Brutal attack - Masked men attack group at Ostkreuz - injured
At an attack by a larger group of masked and armed men on a smaller group near Berlin's Ostkreuz train station, several people were injured. Among the injured were police officers on Saturday afternoon. A man was seriously injured and had to be hospitalized. The police did not confirm reports that the attackers were right-wing extremists and specifically targeted a group of left-wing demonstrators.
According to the police, ten to fifteen masked men, some armed with baseball bats and batons, attacked the other group of five people aged 15, 39, and 32 years old around 4:00 p.m. on a Saturday. A federal policewoman and her colleague had witnessed the attack on their way to the train station and tried to separate the groups with pepper spray.
Federal policewoman punched in the face
The federal policewoman attempted to arrest one of the attackers, but was punched in the face by him and injured. Her colleague was also reportedly attacked. The attackers managed to escape. A 15-year-old girl and a 39-year-old man were taken to the hospital with head injuries.
The police then arrested three suspects aged 19 and 20 near the S-Bahn station Kaulsdorf, as a larger group was checked. Police confiscated weapons.
The organizing committee of a demonstration titled "Looking to the Right" stated that 30 to 40 participants of the demonstration against right-wing extremism had gathered at Ostkreuz on Saturday. Then, approximately 20 people had arrived at the meeting point for the common journey. "They marched in pairs, were armed and masked – with wooden sticks, batons, gloves, and pepper spray. They beat up the people waiting there in a closed formation. They specifically targeted heads and did not stop even when people were already lying on the ground."
Victims claim attackers come from the Neonazi scene
The organizing committee declared that the attackers were from the "National Revolutionary Youth," a youth organization of the Neo-Nazi Party III. Way, one of them was identified as a known Neo-Nazi. The police had not intervened in time.
The police initially did not confirm that the attack had a politically-extremist background. There is currently no evidence of a political motivation, the spokesperson said. The investigation is not currently being led by the State Security Office in the LKA, which is responsible for extremists.
- The victims of the attack at Berlin's Ostkreuz train station have accused the attackers of being affiliated with the Neo-Nazi scene.
- The organizing committee of the demonstration against right-wing extremism claimed that the attackers were from the "National Revolutionary Youth," a youth organization linked to the Neo-Nazi Party III.
- Despite the claims, the police initially did not confirm that the attack had a politically-extremist background.
- Right-wing extremists have been linked to numerous incidents of crime and violence in Berlin, including robberies and assaults.
